HOW LOW CAN JD GO
by Stan Hitchcock
J. D. Summers was a freak of nature, a natural born wonder and also one of my all time heroes. I grew up on Gospel music, singing in the little country church close to our farm in the Ozarks and attending every all-night singing that I could possibly get to. The Lefevers, The Statesmen Quartet and The Blackwood Brothers were my favorites and I first got to meet them all personally in 1959 when they agreed to do a benefit concert, along with Tennessee Ernie Ford, for our Good Samaritan Boys Ranch which I had started with my Uncle Bob Johnson. We had the benefit at the old Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri and the place was packed out and running over. Of all the quartets that I loved, my favorite was the Blackwood Brothers. Nobody had a bass singer like they did with J. D. Sumner and to be able to stand in the wings and be on stage close to him when he hit those low notes is a memory that I will always cherish. Later, after I moved to Nashville and started touring I had the opportunity to work with J. D. Sumner and The Stamps and to develop a close friendship with him. He was a great singer, and an even greater man. He was funny to be around because he was always pulling something on someone as a joke. I never tired of standing in the wings off stage and listening to J. D. hit the low notes. He was the consummate showman. In fact, The Guinness Book Of Records lists J. D. as the one who hit the lowest note on any record in history.
When J. D. Sumner and the Stamps came to be a guest on our Old Country Church TV show in 1994 I was still thrilled when he started singing. Gospel music will always remember J. D. Sumner as the low voice of all time.
Thanks, Stan
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